Recently arrived Freedom Flight refugees crowd into a processing area of the Freedom Tower to sign up for the services offered there as part of the United States Cuban Refugee Resettlement program. Circa 1967.
JUAN CLARK COLLECTION

Recently arrived Freedom Flight refugees crowd into a processing area of the Freedom Tower to sign up for the services offered there as part of the United States Cuban Refugee Resettlement program. Circa 1967.
JUAN CLARK COLLECTION

MOAD reopens with party showing off renovated galleries, new exhibits

The Miami Dade College Museum of Art + Design is reopening Friday night with an evening of exhibitions chronicling the Cuban exile experience and displaying multimedia work from local artists.

From 6 to 9 p.m., visitors can view the exhibits in the renovated galleries of the historic Freedom Tower, 600 Biscayne Blvd., including The Exile Experience: Journey to Freedom, a journalistic chronology that showcases the struggles and accomplishments of the Cuban American community through a compilation of photos, video footage and mementos collected from those who fled the island after Fidel Castro’s rise to power in 1959 and made Miami their new home.

The exhibition, a collaboration between MOAD and the Miami Herald Media Co., also is a homage to the Freedom Tower, which became the main processing center for the new Cuban arrivals. About 300,000 were processed there from 1962 to 1974, and the building became commonly known as “El Refugio.”

Other installations include Cuba Out of Cuba: Through the lens of Alexis Rodriguez-Duarte in collaboration with Tico Torres,a photo collection of Cuban figures living around the world over the past 20 years, as well as work from local artists and faculty members of MDC and the New World School of the Arts.

MOAD’s reopening begins the new cultural season at the college, and festivities will include a live performance by local band PALO! The event at the Freedom Tower is free and open to the public. For more information, visit www.mdcmoad.org.

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